Importance of swimming for children

Being confident in and around water from an early age is an important part of growing up in Australia. Jasmin Forsyth from Swim Australia urges all Australians not only to swim, but to swim well.

Parenting forum

Our featured forum for June and July is Parenting. This is a subject that brings out passionate and polar opposite responses: What should we feed our precious offspring? How much TV is too much – or shouldn’t we let our children watch movies at all, lest we infiltrate their innocent brains with Hollywood stereotypes? What is safe online behaviour for teenagers? Do they need discipline to learn boundaries or should we let them develop their own sense of right and wrong? Is slapping ever acceptable? Do we need more helicopter parents or tiger mums?

Gender is never off the agenda while denigration of women is a national pastime

There has been a renewed focus on gender-related issues in Australian politics lately. Kate Galloway argues that it is time to address the deep seated disdain for women in our society.

Refugee Week

Thursday 20 June 2013 is World Refugee Day. Refugee Week is held from Sunday 16 June to Saturday 22 June 2013 throughout Australia. The organisers raise awareness about the issues refugees deal with and celebrate the positive impact refugees have on our society. The theme for this and next year is Restoring Hope.

Kids or career? The costs to consider when having another child

There is considerable debate surrounding returning to work after having children. Claire Esmond from Pave Wealth Services looks at the true cost of raising a child and explains the financial burden of adding to the nest.

Temper taming or: How not to kill your children in the middle of the night

Every parent knows how difficult it can be to stay composed when your child starts screaming in the small hours – night after night. Anna Gibson offers strategies in calming your baby while keeping your sanity.

Why is children’s television important?

Television has been accused of making our children obese and passive. Jenny Buckland, CEO of the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, argues that age-appropriate television programs for children can have a positive impact on their development.

Productivity: creating a government of ‘doers’ not ‘gunnas’

Too much time is spent on discussing, researching and strategising projects and not enough emphasis is placed on implementation. Peter Fritz explains how it’s time to incentivise project completion.

Evolving talent strategy to match the Millennial workforce reality

There are a lot of stereotypes about the work ethic and demands of so-called Millennials, those employees that are under 33 years old. Les Pickett shares the data from a survey that both confirms and dispels common labels.

Online parenting connections

Being a parent is sometimes lonely and confusing. Dr Julie Green, Executive Director of the Raising Children Network, explains how online parent forums can be good place to get information and support.

Eddie McGuire: License to Stumble

After the Sydney Swans player Adam Goodes was called an “ape” by a 13-year-old girl, Collingwood president Eddie McGuire followed suit by suggesting Goodes could be used to promote the musical King Kong. Binoy Kampmark from RMIT University says this case shows the uglier features of sport and spectatorship in general.

Learning from China’s positive attitude towards older workers

China has a long tradition of respecting the wisdom and knowledge the older generation can contribute. Zoe Li from Global Access Partners looks beyond the Chinese perspective and explores how we can adopt a more positive attitude towards older people in the workforce.